00:00Missiles over Riyadh. On Sunday morning, the war reached the heart of Saudi Arabia's money.
00:06Yemen's Houthis say they fired ballistic and cruise missiles and drones at the Saudi capital,
00:12and this time they hit the financial district itself. The target was the Aramco Tower in the
00:18King Abdullah Financial District, the glass heart of the kingdom's economy. Windows were blown out
00:24across several floors. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry says falling debris caused only minor
00:31damage, and thankfully, no one was hurt. But eyewitnesses describe shattered glass and a
00:37damaged facade, floor after floor. The Saudi-led coalition says its air defenses intercepted and
00:44destroyed two ballistic missiles headed for Riyadh, and later destroyed two of the launchers used in
00:49the attack. The Houthis claim it was bigger than that. Four operations, they say, hitting the
00:55financial district, Riyadh airport, Aramco oil storage tanks, and the eastern city of Upka'ik.
01:03The Houthis have been hitting Aramco again and again in recent months, its headquarters in Dharan,
01:10its main oil hub at Ras Tanura, and the pipeline that carries crude to the Red Sea.
01:16And the truce that held Yemen's war in check is gone. The 2022 ceasefire fell apart in July,
01:22and since then, the two sides have traded blows almost every day.
01:26The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced
01:32since the fighting resumed. This is a war that never really ended. It just moved.
01:38Riyadh has felt it before. About a month ago, Houthis' strikes on the capital's main airport
01:44killed more than a dozen people and injured hundreds more, and the city has not been the
01:50same since. Events have been delayed or scrapped, the Asian Cup and the investment forum. Schools
01:56in Riyadh only went back to in-person classes on Sunday for the first time in a month. The
02:01financial district itself was under remote work orders.
02:04And that is why this strike matters so much. The King Abdullah Financial District is not just
02:09offices. It is the home of the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs,
02:16Brookfield, the showcase of the Crown Prince's Vision 2030.
02:21One analyst put it bluntly. This was an attack on the credibility of Vision 2030,
02:28as much as on Aramco itself. When missiles reach the financial district, investors start asking
02:36questions. Saudi Arabia is already under pressure. A growing budget deficit, an economy that is
02:43contracting, a stock market that is barely moving, and now the war is landing on its front door.
02:49Zoom out and the picture gets bigger. This is the latest front in a wider war. The United States
02:55in Israel went to war with Iran in late February, and American strikes hit Kashm Island in the Strait
03:01of Hormuz last week. Now, the diplomacy is racing to catch up. President Trump meets Qatar's Prime
03:08Minister today as the key mediator pushes new proposals for talks with Iran. But the signals
03:15are mixed. Trump told CNN it is highly unlikely he orders more strikes on Iran if the talks make real
03:21progress. His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, played down the chances of a breakthrough.
03:27Iran, meanwhile, condemned Saudi strikes in Yemen over the weekend, strikes on a market and a village
03:33that reportedly killed dozens of civilians. Tehran called it a flagrant violation of international law.
03:40So the cycle keeps turning. Strike, retaliation, strike again. The Houthis threatened more attacks on
03:47Saudi infrastructure. The coalition answered by destroying launchers. Nobody is backing down.
03:55Watch three things now. First, whether the financial district stays open or goes back to remote work.
04:01Second, whether flights into Riyadh keep getting restricted. And third, what oil markets do because
04:07Aramco is the world's biggest oil company. The war that was supposed to stay in Yemen has arrived in
04:14the Saudi capital. The question now is not whether it escalates. It is how far it spreads.
